Machines currently exist that allow a user to insert bills and receive coins in exchange. In addition, Coinstar, Inc. of Bellevue, Wash. makes a machine that allows users to convert large amounts of coins to bills without going to a bank. The Coinstar machine receives change and dispenses vouchers that users may take to a cashier and exchange for bills and change. A user of the Coinstar machine is charged a percentage of the transaction total for the service of converting the coins to bills.
Machines also exist that receive money in the form of coins or bills and dispense a product such a food item or postage stamps.
Other machines read a magnetic strip on a plastic card and perform some function upon recognizing the proper information from the magnetic strip. A well known example of such a machine is an automatic teller machine ("ATM"). A user of an ATM has a card encoded with information unique to the user. The information allows the ATM to recognize the user and prompt the user for entry of a secret code. Once the user enters the code on a keypad of the machine, the ATM checks the entered code against the code that is associated with the card. If the information matches, the user can proceed by responding to prompts from the ATM until the transaction is complete. Some possible ATM transactions are withdrawing money from an account, depositing money into an account, or making a payment owed to an account.
In casino gambling, patrons use chips in many of the games instead of money. During play, a user accumulates gambling chips. Gambling chips are not legal tender and are typically negotiable only inside a particular casino. Chips from different casinos sometimes appear to be somewhat similar. For example, chips from different casinos may be of similar materials, sizes and colors, yet not be interchangeable. Currently, gambling patrons cash in their winnings in the form of chips by going to a human cashier. The human cashier counts the chips and returns money to the patron.
Disadvantages are associated with using human cashiers. There is a possibility that a human cashier will make an error in counting the chips and returning cash. A human cashier could also attempt to steal from a patron or an employer in the course of a transaction. It is necessary for a casino to hire enough cashiers to serve the number of patrons who wish to cash in their chips, significantly adding to overhead. Finally, patrons dislike waiting in cashier lines when there are not enough cashiers to service all the patrons promptly.